Year: 2011

I work on text files on my novels until they are ready for primetime, read, until someone else are going to read them. Until that moment most of the work happen in Text Files, that sync with my Dropbox and Scrivener in my mac.
After I write that first raw draft, the fun (or I say so) begins, editing the manuscript, this is a two to ten more readings of the whole thing. ‘The Writer’ (the novel that I will be publishing at the end of this month) was read, and edit fourteen times most of them in the iPad, wasn’t until I share to my beta readers that I begin working on the word file in Pages. Until then, it was in text files that I work on, edit, play and read.
It’s really cool, to carry the novel with you, to sit and edit another page, to discover something else. I am this week beginning with the third read on the new novel, the story is out, and I am looking forward to take the stuff that I tell about and make the content evolve so I show more and tell less, a really hard and complex work, at least for me, but one of the most entertaining things, when you accomplish them.
I remember on one of the really earlier manuscripts of this novel, on the original idea (that went directly to the trash)a paragraph that reads:
“Peter love the speed that a Porsche could generate, he love the feeling that the adrenaline make in his body, the feeling going at ninety miles approaching the curve and feel how the car grab the road with desperation, like a little kid grab the hand of their parent when is afraid, that scary grab that bring security and peace, but that not only the little kid know can be break but the driver knows it could be a matter of seconds to be out of the road”
That desperation feeling, that little kid grabbing the side of the road or the hand of the parent, letting you see the fear on his eyes, and hoping you will hold, you will hold them tight and keep him safe…  That is what you look when you begin the editing process.
The iPad will not do the final editing, but allow me to work on those, not yet ready files, and edit the manuscript, work on it, and allow the manuscript to evolve to the show stage from the telling stage in witch usually all manuscripts are.
 

Doesn’t matter how cool is to finish the manuscript, doesn’t matter how great it feels that the artist sent you the cover of the book (this week I received the cover art of my next novel, ‘The Writer’, that will be published in the end of May, and trust me, it feels cool) I finish the second draft of the next book, the next novel, but as people know writing is not a one time deal, in order to really write, you need to re-write, and when you are done, you need to re-write again. In the perfect world (the ones writes would love to create) you finish writing, type: THE END and the mistakes, inconsistencies and more that you create in the first draft, will correct themselves.
So you finish the story, the novel is done. The problem now, (and the cool thing) is that you know where the story goes, I work based on a light outline, and let the story change, evolve, and go places. For example in this novel (the one I am editing right now) there was a character that in the outline was going to die in the last chapter, and instead was killed four chapter earlier. Why? Because that’s how the story roll, because that was the right moment, because there were things in the story that I didn’t see until he was ready to died.
Editing the book feel more like re-writing than actually a fun activity, writing the book is a blast, there is full of opportunities, you can go right or left, make the character jump, cry, be sad or happy, editing instead, is about not telling more about the story and begin showing the real color of the story, is hard (at least for me) and it is not always the most fun of the jobs.
Editing the book is sitting with Steven Pressfield Resistance, in the same table to read the manuscript, and it’s that Resistance the one holding the red pen. Your job is to notice the changes, and made them, the Resistance job is to tell you how bad your book is, and how bad of writer you are. In a way the Resistance is correct, a first draft is bad, (even the second one) is full of little inconsistencies, little details, is telling about emotions instead of showing them, is telling about the character instead of letting the reader see the character, is telling a story that is full of holes.
The first, second and usually third draft are simply rocks, if you show it to most people they will only see a rock, a simple worthless rock, the Resistance knows this, and work incredible hard into force you to see that it is a worthless rock, your job now, as a writer is simple, show to the Resistance the Diamond inside. Your job is to Write, re-write, write again, re-write again and remove from the rock all that it’s not part of that diamond, eventually the Resistance, stop fighting and wait until you begin writing the next book, and it’s that moment when she quits, that the process is fun again.

I have followed Patrick Rhone for a while and it’s one of those writers and in general human being that I enjoy reading, listening, basically ingesting most of what I am aware he do. It’s always a treat and a pleasure.
Yesterday I had the pleasure to read his new book, Keeping it Straight. The book was release on May 3rd, and it’s a series of 48 essays divided in three sets, You, Me and Everything Else.
From the Book:
“- You – Ideas and observations that I hope will resonate with and inspire you (as they do me)
– Me – Stories and revelations that are specific to me (but also may apply to you)
– Everything Else – How to handle some of the other necessities and detritus of life (that is meant for both you an me”
The book is an honest treat to read, the only thing I regret wasn’t have a hot cocoa to read it even slower and enjoy it even more, but don’t worry, I have plans to re-read many of the chapters this weekend.
In case you don’t take my word for it, and need something in advance, let me take from the book this golden nugget: “The Three most important productivity tools: trash Can, delete key, and the word “no”.”
Thanks Patrick for such nice book.
 

May the Fourth, be with all my readers today.

The hard days are those that you sit in front of the screen and nothing come out, the juices of creativity are dry, and in order to write 500 words you need a whole morning, assuming you force yourself yo stay there.

I love the days that writing simply flows, that I sit in my desk and the ideas, the characters, the story simply flows, the days that this feels easy, the days that write make me smile. Those are the easy days. The hard days are exactly the opposite, you sit there and you can’t type, you make more mistakes in the spelling, and what finally comes out it’s awful.

Steven Pressfield in his master piece “The war of Art” make a distinction between the professional writer, and the rest. The professional writer, sit and write, even when he don’t feel like it, even on the hard days, he or she fight Resistance and continue. For the longest time, I was writing only on the easy days, on the days that feels easy, the days that Resistance (also defined by Pressfield in his book) was distracted and allowing me to work without distractions.

I have learn that you will get easy days, but more of the writing days are going to be hard ones, are going to be full of Resistance, full of fears. You will, like me, strive for those easy days, and will enjoy them and cherish them, but will be hard ones that will bring you to the easy ones and not the other way around. If you want the easy ones only, you will never write, you will never show up, you will never earn the respect from Resistance or the muse. They will continue showing up at random intervals, but will never come to you with the incredible stuff, will never respect you enough, to see that you are working hard to show up and instead of bring you more easy days, will put in your journey more hard ones.

On the easy days, I love to be a writer, on the hard ones, I love to have written.

I remember when I began measuring stuff, I want it to accomplish so much, but didn’t know how to. The year, if my memory serves me well, 2004.

I began reading really early, and my mom was wise enough to never forbid a book, not only that, I can’t remember once that she said that I could not have a book, the only condition, was that I need to finish the previous one, before I could get another one, for me that wasn’t a problem. I love to read, but between 1999 and 2004, I basically stop reading. Mind you, I think I began reading a book a month or so.

In 2004 I was frustrated, so many books I want it to read, and I wasn’t. Even that by then I had quit on my dream of be a Writer, doesn’t matter, I was in love with reading, no reason to stop reading.

I decide to set a goal and begin reading, but more importantly to keep a record. My goal was 26 books. I did it, next year, I aim for another 26, and soon I move my goal to 52 books, goal that I have keep since 2007. I have read actually more than that every year, but I had keep the goal in 52.

But I have learn to track more things. I also had learn that the goal need to be possible, but require effort.

I said that I quit my dream to be a writer, not because I didn’t want it with all my heart, but because I allow the fear of others into my head.

Being a Writer is a journey, and a lonely profession, you may spend months working on a piece, then read it and simply decide to delete it. I have been working on my first novel (the first one that will see the light and meet readers), that I will self publish soon (seems like May will be the time) for over a year and a half. The first two manuscripts I simply delete them, on the third one, it has been th last details.

Last year (2010) I embark to write again, and I wish to tell you I wrote more than what I think I did, but honestly I wasn’t tracking the amount of words, so in 2011 I decided to begin tracking them, in the same way I track reading and other things, I will do writing.

In January I only track writing in general, and wasn’t sure I was writing enough fiction, or was more in the blogs, and those kind of stuff, so I decide in February to track Writing as well as Fiction Writing. The result was that I wasn’t writing enough, not only not writing enough fiction, but enough in general.

So I have been working hard to change that, in April I wrote 30,984 words, out of those 16,102 words were fiction, over 50%. This is the first time since I begin tracking (80,984 words ago) that I am satisfy with the amount of words, not only in fiction but in general.

It had been a gradual improvement, and I hope that I can during the month of May keep up with those numbers, I will for sure keep keep measuring, since time after time, has prove to be not only useful but had bring me to a successful place.

ME: “Let me tell you about the future, the future doesn’t exist, stop trying to reach that place, because the regrets of your past will not allow you to even notice where you are getting to”
YOU: “But”
ME: “Let me talk, if you spend your life looking to that future, the regrets of the past will hunt you, will remind you everyday of how you failed to pursue the real stuff. You are worrying, stop. Worrying about that future that do not exist, will ruin you, will make you miserable, the white elephant in the room does not exist, stop pursuing that”
YOU”: but”
ME: “I told you already, let me talk, we don’t have much time, and I am trying to give you something important. I was fifteen when I begin my path to be rich, I begin working all the possible hours, when I met Stella, I knew I had to make a decision to pursue that future or a better one. I choose poorly, even that Stella kept on my side, I choose poorly. When John came, a year after I married Stella, I knew I had another chance to choose better, but again I choose poorly, when Mark, your father came, I had another chance, and you guess right, I choose poorly”
YOU”: but grandpa”
ME: “Let me finish. I was able to provide them a dreamed future full of money, they travel, they enjoy many things, while I worry about the future. In the process I waste any opportunity to connect with John and Mark. Do you know how many times I went to one of their important activities?”
YOU”: no”
ME: “Three times for John and four for Mark, for your uncle John I went to Baptize, Marriage and his funeral, for your father I also went to the hospital to meet you”
YOU: There was a long silence in the room,  tears from two pair of eyes, and then he continue
ME: “I was always working, Stella told me many many times to really stop, and enjoy them, but I couldn’t, it wasn’t until many years later when Stella died that I noticed that I had lost everything that I finally stop and make the only good decision I had ever made, meet you and try to be what I was never able to”
YOU”: grandpa, you did well, you may have not done it for dad or uncle John, but you did it for me”
ME: “Mark, stop pursuing the future, pay attention, I pursue the future all my life, the only thing I obtain from that was that the regrets of the past have hunt me everyday and instead of paying attention to what it was saying, I was sure that the future was going to be better. Dear Mark, stop lying to yourself, the future may or may not be better, the past was or wasn’t better, people never take pictures of the crappy moments, people remember the good ones. Stella had boxes of pictures, full of good moments, full of smiles, full of incredible things, I only had the regret of the past, and a waste hope in the future.”
YOU”: but”
ME: “Don’t tell me but, stop living on that future, you will only had the regrets of the past, begin living in the present, begin living now, now is the only time you will have”
After he finished writing the letter, John’s nurse close the envelope, and addressed to Mark Jr. He knew that no one will be there for him in the way he was for no one, he was in the office when his son John died in the hospital with a heart broke, he was at work when his son Mark died in that car accident, he was busy in the office when Stella felt the stairs and break her neck, he was in the office every time Mark Jr. want it to see grandpa.
He knew that the nurse called Mark Jr., to his office, he said he will be in the hospital shortly, grandpa had been dying there for two days, and sadly he wasn’t surprise that Mark wasn’t able to get here, he would not had done it.
On Thursday, at four in the morning, John stopped breathing, alone in a bed. That afternoon Mark Jr. Assistant pick the letter.
It was a week after, when a Sunday afternoon Mark Jr. Working in his home office found John’s letter and open it.
He didn’t cry, he was use to live with the regrets of the past, so he stand up, pick the phone and when out. Three years later, he was playing in the backyard, with the present, not worrying about what the future will be, and without any regrets from the past, proud to get a message that Grandpa had leave him before he left.
 

I think it was Patrick Rhone or Mac Sparky who inspire me to change the home screen on my iPhone home screen from a page full of folders to only the most use apps.
Since the inclusions of folders on the iOS I went from have a page for certain kind of apps to have folders for certain kind of apps. The problem was that even that I have some that I love and have no plans to remove form my iPhone or iPad, they are not use often enough.
It was when I think When I read from Patrick Rhone or Mac Sparky about having on the main screen only the main apps. I wasn’t sure, but decide to keep on the first page only those apps that I use at least once every two days, and move all my folders to the third screen. I have a two and a half year old that own the second screen.
My current iPhone Setup:
Launch Bar:
– Phone
– Whatsapp (This application allow me to send text, videos and images for free worldwide, since I have friends and family abroad is fantastic.
– OmniFocus
– ToDo Tomorrow (This little app works like a 3×5 index card, when I need to focus, this is what I use instead of open OmniFocus. I use to have an actual Index Card, now I use this,)
The Main Page
– Notes (Sync with Mobile Me)
– Clock
– Calendar
– The Weather Channel (Since we move to Indiana, this is a key app)
– Maps
– iPod
– PodFinder (Is app broke on the last update, and I hope they fix it soon, but basically look into my podcast and notified me if there is new episodes, this way I don’t need to connect to iTunes)
– Samurai (I use to have Chess here, but my opponent request a change of game, so now we are playing Samurai)
– Carcassone
– Scrabble
– Messages (Because you can always get for people that don’t use Whatsapp)
The Second page is full of apps for my daughter, and the the Third Page has all the rest of apps. Even that I delete many of them, I have manage to accumulate many of them, some that I love more than others, but the ones that are in the iPhone are the ones that I continue thinking bring some value.